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1938 Superman Comic Sells For $1M

Posted by kdawson on from the check-those-boxes-in-the-attic dept.

slasher999 writes in to note a new world record sale for a comic: an instance of Action Comics #1, 1938, sold for $1 million at auction. Both the buyer and the seller remain anonymous. This comic marked the first time a superhero went to work in a city, and the first time a man flew without mechanical aid.

42 of 267 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Anonymous, huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    bezinga.

  2. Value, Price, and Worth by mano.m · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It may be valuable as a cultural artefact, which pushed up its price to a million dollars, but is it worth it? A comic book, really?
    Although imo, it's still far more meaningful than a lot of what passes as modern 'art'.

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    1. Re:Value, Price, and Worth by Jojoba86 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Things are worth what people are willing to pay for them. Some was willing to pay a million dollars, therefore that's what it's worth.

    2. Re:Value, Price, and Worth by mano.m · · Score: 2, Interesting
      I understand, but my comment was more along the lines of what Buffet says about gold -

      Gold gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head.

      Gold at least is a store of value and a safeguard in bad times. A million dollars for a comic book? Cannot compute. To each his own, I guess.

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    3. Re:Value, Price, and Worth by AuMatar · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Why is gold? I can't eat it. Can't drink it. Can't hunt with it. Can't heal with it. Can't fuck it. It has some use in electronics, but there's better materials. The only reason to think it has value is because it did historically. If we actually entered a post-apocalyptic world where the dollar was useless, you'd quickly find gold to be equally useless- people would want food, ammo, medicine, sex, they'd have no use for gold. The comic book is just as likely to stand up as gold is.

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    4. Re:Value, Price, and Worth by Hognoxious · · Score: 3, Insightful

      it doesn't corrode,

      A small fraction of it is used for that reason - electrical contacts, jewelry.

      Though there are other substances that don't corrode either.

      and it's rare.

      So are John Lennon autographs and George Washington's teeth.

      modern civilisation wouldn't exist without gold.

      Fascinating. Would you care to explain why? I'd say iron's a lot more important. It's even got an age named after it.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    5. Re:Value, Price, and Worth by prionic6 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Actually, there is a "Golden Age". Closing the circle to the article topic.

    6. Re:Value, Price, and Worth by c6gunner · · Score: 3, Informative

      An example of this would be a hypothetical economy where the value of products and services is determined by the resources (labor, energy and and raw materials) required for providing said products and services.

      I've heard that argument before, and it's never been convincing. The first major problem that comes to mind is that under such a system, an old 26" black-and-white CRT television set would be worth roughly the same as a modern 56" LCD. Likewise, a Chinese knockoff of an iPhone would be worth exactly the same as the genuine article, even though it's complete crap. Your system makes no allowance for depreciation, or differences in quality. The other problem is that your system encourages inefficiency and laziness. If you take 10 hours and $5 in raw materials to make a chair, and I take 50 hours and $20 in raw materials to make a shittier chair, I can sell my product for a much higher price even though yours is actually superior.

      Of course, the biggest problem is that nobody has the right to tell me what I can charge for my product, or what I can pay for yours. Implementing your "hypothetical economy" would require a regime more oppressive than the old USSR. I, for one, have no interest in seeing Orwell's vision brought to life.

    7. Re:Value, Price, and Worth by Trepidity · · Score: 3, Interesting

      That's exchange value, one of many kinds of value. Since Aristotle, people have recognized multiple kinds of value. For example, if a major copper mine shuts down temporarily, the price of copper pots will go up. But you copper pot does not become better at cooking; as a kitchen item, it is no more or less valuable than before, even though it has greater value on the market than before, if you wanted to sell it. Similarly, if a huge new copper mine is opened, your copper pot does not lose any value as a cooking implement, but is again just as good as previously.

      --
      10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
    8. Re:Value, Price, and Worth by gijoel · · Score: 3, Funny

      If we actually entered a post-apocalyptic world where the dollar was useless, you'd quickly find gold to be equally useless- people would want food, ammo, medicine, sex, they'd have no use for gold. The comic book is just as likely to stand up as gold is.

      Don't forget the bottle caps.

    9. Re:Value, Price, and Worth by c6gunner · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If we actually entered a post-apocalyptic world where the dollar was useless, you'd quickly find gold to be equally useless- people would want food, ammo, medicine, sex, they'd have no use for gold.

      That's one of the things I loved about Fallout 3 - the idea of using bottle-caps as currency was sheer genius. If we're going to pick arbitrary metals as a system of exchange for our post-apocalyptic world, why not have some fun with it.

    10. Re:Value, Price, and Worth by jonadab · · Score: 5, Informative

      > If we actually entered a post-apocalyptic world where the
      > dollar was useless, you'd quickly find gold to be equally useless

      No, that doesn't follow.

      There have been many situations in history (frequently involving the near-certain imminent collapse of a government) wherein currency rapidly lost all its value. In each and every case, gold was still valuable.

      Gold is inherently rare. Nobody knows how to make counterfeit gold. Unless some brilliant physicist discovers an affordable way to do transmutation, that's always going to be the case.

      Gold also has a distinctive appearance that makes it easy to tell apart from other metals, even at a glance. ("Fool's gold" may look sort of like it might possibly contain gold ore, but you can't refine it and get anything that looks even vaguely like refined gold.)

      These features give gold a durable value that has outlasted innumerable currencies and governments.

      --
      Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
    11. Re:Value, Price, and Worth by kale77in · · Score: 2, Informative

      Factors which make gold valuable are easily identified:

      1: Gold has aesthetic value. It's pretty, and stays pretty by not tarnishing. Like silver but with colour. That makes it a tradable commodity, and then other values attach to it...

      2: Because there's not a lot of it, the price goes up; this then gives it the additional quality of encapsulating high value in small objects that can be carried easily for trade purposes. It concentrates wealth for storage or transportation. This had obvious trade benefits in the past, but today allows a single facility (Fort Knox) to secure a whole system of currency.

      3: People will always want to assert and demonstrate status over other people with bright and shiny things. Gold is not only rare and desirable but is also malleable into all manner of gaudy artifacts. Platinum might technically be more ostentatious, but it's too rare to become a trade standard, harder to work, and looks too much like silver to impress people generally.

      So gold is uniquely valuable. I don't see an apocalypse changing these factors much, If anything a reversion to the bronze age would give them a shot in the arm.

    12. Re:Value, Price, and Worth by MadKeithV · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Why would I want to see a movie about some guy buying a comic book?

      It's been done, sort of. "Take On Me" - A-Ha.

    13. Re:Value, Price, and Worth by CharlyFoxtrot · · Score: 3, Funny

      I pity the fool who doesn't like gold. You better stop your jibba jabba, sucka.

      --
      If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
    14. Re:Value, Price, and Worth by Hatta · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I think this is a case, not where the buyer thinks the comic is incredibly valuable, but where they have so much money that 1 million dollars isn't really that valuable to them.

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    15. Re:Value, Price, and Worth by Draek · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Which is why the currency standard should be cows. You can eat them, you can drink their milk, you can use their hides for clothing and you can fuck them in a pinch as well, they're the perfect standard to base an economy on.

      Some may suggest women instead, but human milk tastes like crap and human meat can be toxic, so cows are still better. Goats would be another option, but the idea of fucking them is just sick.

      --
      No problem is insoluble in all conceivable circumstances.
    16. Re:Value, Price, and Worth by operagost · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Gold has some inherent value. Just because you don't personally value it, doesn't make it less valuable. Paper money, on the other hand (and modern coinage, to a lesser extent), is fiat and worthless outside of the promises made by its issuing authority. I find it hilarious that geeks are debating the value of gold while their wallets are full of fiat currency and bank accounts full of imaginary fiat currency.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    17. Re:Value, Price, and Worth by demonlapin · · Score: 2, Funny

      I have a modest proposal regarding this problem...

    18. Re:Value, Price, and Worth by FiloEleven · · Score: 2, Informative

      The only reason to think it has value is because it did historically.

      It is a sad fact of contemporary Western culture that this is taken to mean "gold has no real value." All of the rights we enjoy in our society are here for the same reason--they were historically valued. It is woefully ignorant to ignore the thrust of history. You can make a case against the use of gold as a currency, but "it has historically held value" is a talking point for your opposition. After all, *every* currency has value only because we choose to agree that it does. Utility in a currency is a bad thing, because then your money supply will keep shrinking as people use the currency for other purposes.

      Some kind of currency is necessary to avoid the extra problems that the barter system brings, such as the coincidence of wants. Gold has certain properties that make it a good currency, which is why it has been so often used throughout history. These properties are arguably not as important in times of societal stability, but they become increasingly important when things fall apart.

      • Gold is fungible, meaning that one piece of gold is equivalent to another. Its size and purity can be easily tested. This is unlike comic books which, especially as they age, end up in different conditions--and then there's the quandary of "is this Punisher 2099 worth as much as that #1 Superman?"
      • Gold is stable. It takes much effort to pull more up from the ground, which means that devaluation is very slow--especially in bad times. The question of durability also comes into play: food is good for bartering, but food spoils or gets eaten so does not make a good store of value.
      • Gold is transportable. It's rare enough that a large amount of wealth can be easily carried, yet small payments can be made without using microscopic pieces.
      • Gold is divisible. It can be divided and rejoined as necessary without losing value.
      • Gold is easily recognized. Due in part to its particular nature and in part to its historical role.

      Try to understand what money is for and why a good currency must have the properties it does before making half-cocked statements about it. Your entire list of reasons for ruling out gold (can't eat it, can't hunt with it, etc.) are all things that make it good for a currency. The fact that you were modded +5 for such stupidity only shows that there are sadly many moderators as ignorant as you on the topic of money.

      There are schools of thought that say commodity-backed currencies aren't good for our society, and some of their arguments have merit. But "in bad times," as this thread is about, the only alternative is the barter system which is rife with inefficiencies. If you can't see why gold makes a good hard currency then, then I will gladly trade you all of my comic books for all of your gold.

      --
      Your brain is not a computer.
  3. Re:Anonymous, huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yep, I just sold this guy a comic book for $1,000,001. Sucker.

    Of course, if we're both anonymous, how do you know I didn't just sell it to myself?

  4. As a Computer Scientist... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I say call me when you have issue #0 for sale.

  5. Technically speaking ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Superman is not a man. He is an alien from the planet Krypton. So this is NOT "the first time a man flew without mechanical aid."

    1. Re:Technically speaking ... by lxs · · Score: 2, Funny

      Now you've done it. Superman has gone into a super depression after you've questioned his super manhood. I hope you're super happy.

    2. Re:Technically speaking ... by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 2, Funny

      No, he's super! Thanks for asking. All things considered, he couldn't be better, I must say.

      --
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    3. Re:Technically speaking ... by SirWinston · · Score: 5, Interesting

      >Superman is not a man. He is an alien from the planet Krypton. So
      >this is NOT "the first time a man flew without mechanical aid."

      And hence my favorite Tarantino fanboyism, courtesy of Kill Bill Vol. 2:

      Bill: "As you know, l'm quite keen on comic books. Especially the ones about superheroes. I find the whole mythology surrounding superheroes fascinating. Take my favorite superhero, Superman. Not a great comic book. Not particularly well-drawn. But the mythology... The mythology is not only great, it's unique.... Now, a staple of the superhero mythology is, there's the superhero and there's the alter ego. Batman is actually Bruce Wayne, Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker. When that character wakes up in the morning, he's Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to become Spider-Man. And it is in that characteristic Superman stands alone. Superman didn't become Superman. Superman was born Superman. When Superman wakes up in the morning, he's Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red "S", that's the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. What Kent wears - the glasses, the business suit - that's the costume. That's the costume Superman wears to blend in with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent. He's weak... he's unsure of himself... he's a coward. Clark Kent is Superman's critique on the whole human race."

      --
      "It's a damn poor mind that can only think of one way to spell a word."--Andrew Jackson
    4. Re:Technically speaking ... by DuckDodgers · · Score: 2, Informative

      The linked article does not assert that this is Superman's first flight, or that this is the first super-hero working in the city. Where did the Slashdot author get that? One of the first tag lines for Superman was "faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound" - writers did not give him the ability to fly until some time in the 1940s, I think, and by that time dozens or hundreds of other flying superheroes had been created.

    5. Re:Technically speaking ... by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 3, Informative

      The Shoveler: Oh yeah, well, maybe if we had a billionaire benefactor like Lance Hunt, then we could afford some advertising.
      Mr. Furious: I think that's because Lance Hunt is Captain Amazing.
      Blue Raja: Oh, here we go.
      Shoveler: Oh, don't start that again! Lance Hunt wears glasses. Captain Amazing doesn't wear glasses.
      Mr. Furious: He takes them off when he transforms.
      Shoveler: That doesn't make any sense. He wouldn't be able to see!

      --
      Comment of the year
  6. Price a bit on the low side? by bbbaldie · · Score: 2, Funny

    Comic values are down overall. I suspect that AC #1 might get lots more money in a more favorable economy. This one may be a great investment. I remember saving #1 issues of comics in the early 70's. Anyone else notice what crap, worthless comics debuted during that era? ;-)

  7. Re:Anonymous, huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm just going to leave this here:
    http://www.4shared.com/file/227765731/816ff19f/action_comics_01_-_superman.html

  8. I thought Superman could just leap over things by Punto · · Score: 3, Interesting

    not "fly" (at first at least)

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    1. Re:I thought Superman could just leap over things by 91degrees · · Score: 4, Informative

      You're absolutely right. Well, presumably he had the retconned ability to fly at the time.

      Not totally convinced by the argument that flight was a cost reduction thing for the animated series though. This was pretty high quality work, and flying would mean they couldn't use the rotoscoping technique they used for most of the animation.

  9. Truth, Justice, and the American Way by clickety6 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I always liked the way Superman fought for "Truth, Justice, and the American Way" implying that whatever the "American Way" is, it doesn't include Truth and Justice ;-)

    --
    ----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
    1. Re:Truth, Justice, and the American Way by ari_j · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Don't miss the other obvious implication: Truth and Justice are mutually exclusive.

  10. Re:Excellent time to sell by Jaruzel · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Once, I was at a sci-fi collectables fair. One of the most popular stands was selling Beanie babies. My 1 year old daughter, whom I was carrying, started stretching out for one of the beanie babies (a small pig I think). I picked it up and asked how much. The vendor told me £30 or there abouts. Watched by the many other collectors who were all sifting through the stand, I bought the beanie baby pig, tore off the tag, and handed it to my daughter.

    The silence around me was deafening... I quickly retreated to the Star Trek area, where at least they can take a joke.

    -Jar.

    PS. She's 12 now, and still has the beanie baby pig, without tag, and without most of it's fur.
    PPS. I bought an original lobby poster of Star Trek V at that same fair, signed by Shatner. It's one of my most valuable collectables.

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  11. Comics are a crooked business by BenEnglishAtHome · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Collectible comics, that is.

    I was heavy into collecting at one time. I still have my #1s of "The Nam" and whatever reboot cycle Supes was going through at the time.

    Here's what put me off the whole business: At that time, the business model of collectible comics dealers was based on ripping off little boys. They'd come into shops with their few bucks and dealers would sell them crap by always hinting that "This is gonna be the next TMNT #1! Buy it now! Only a buck over cover!" I've never known any business that bought stock, put it out, stored it away when everyone realized it was crap and didn't sell, then dragged the same crap out of storage a year or two later, slapped on a higher price, and called it a "collectible". That shit is just ridiculous.

    What broke the camel's back was when I managed, some time after the fact, to piece together what had happened with the Dark Knight hardcovers. When they were announced, you could prepay something like $75 and reserve a signed copy. There were delays and by the time all the signed copies had shipped, the book had totally blown up. The demand for the signed collectible hard cover was huge, with new stock selling for $300.

    Every lousy fucking dealer in Houston that I was able to get info on (except one, A Few Books and Records on the SW side), told every kid who had prepaid for their book that their book never arrived and the order needed to be canceled. They refunded the $75. Some of them didn't wait a week before they stuck that kid's book in the display case with a huge price tag on it.

    With just one exception, every comics dealer I've ever known has been a scumbag.

  12. Re:Is this comic available as a torrent ? by clickety6 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Just read it online: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG02/yeung/actioncomics/cover.html

    --
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  13. Re:Terrible Hero by Remus+Shepherd · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The point of Superman stories -- if they are well written -- is not to make you worry about whether Superman will survive. The point is to make you worry about whether everyone else will survive.

    He's the archetypical protector. The dramatic tension comes from wondering whether he can do his job as a protector. His survival is not important to the narrative.

    --
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  14. Re:Anonymous, huh? by gid · · Score: 2, Informative

    Nice, I'm going to print this out and sell it. I figure it'll only be worth a hundred grand or so since it's not an original.

    And not to be picky about the short, but Superman could only "leap 1/8th of a mile; hurdle a twenty story building" in this comic, not fly.

  15. Re:No discussion of Superman is complete without by MartinSchou · · Score: 2, Informative

    That's actually something they paid credit to in Hancock (DVD only). Some of my friends thought it was a really tacky scene:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-tcxZ5VOBM

    To me though, it really shows how he cannot be completely intimate with someone. He has to warn the girl before having sex with her, and for good reason. She doesn't listen, and he saves her life by tossing her aside before his ejaculation punches holes in the ceiling.

    And of course she's now scared out of her mind and runs away through the bathroom window.

    If that's how all your intimate encounters progress ... you'd probably shy away from it completely.

  16. No, Batman is the *really* annoying one by elrous0 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yeah, well Superman is one of the few superheroes I *do* like. The superheroes I find truly annoying are the ones like Batman who have no special powers and yet act totally contrary to any form of rationality. If Superman is *overspecced* to be a superhero, the the exact opposite is true of Batman and other "regular human" superheroes. They fly in the face of every bit of common sense imaginable. They have no superpowers, but refuse to use guns or other practical weaponry which might actually give them an edge (there is a reason cops and soldiers carry those guns). They wear absolutely ridiculous costumes in which no one could possibly fight (Batman's costume is the worst of the lot--with no peripheral vision and that silly cape in the way he would be laughably easy to beat down). They have silly modes of transportation (why would a supposed vigilante who's trying to stay under the radar drive something as gaudy and easy to spot as the Batmobile/Batcopter/etc.?!?). Basically, the only "normal human" superhero who has ever made any sense was The Punisher (closer to what a real-world vigilante superhero would look like than any moron running around with a big cape on).

    Superman may have too much Deus ex machina going for him. But at least he makes *some* sense, given his set of superpowers. Sure, it's silly for him to wear a cape too. But at least with him it doesn't matter (Superman could fight in a ballerina costume and still be every bit as effective). With Batman--the cape, the stupid costume, the ridiculous car, etc. are all just fucking stupid. He's supposed to be this smart detective, but he dresses like a drag queen and acts like brain-dead retard.

    --
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  17. Re:Anonymous, huh? by russ1337 · · Score: 4, Funny

    but, but, but ... according to MPAA and RIAA doctrine, for every copy you distribute you're depriving someone in the market of the original. If you sell or give away 100 copies you've ripped the artist off over $100,000,000.... that he would have made selling originals...

    oh wait...